Front office drama: "I never tried to fire Casey." - Colangelo

TORONTO - Bryan Colangelo categorically denies he made any attempt to fire coach Dwane Casey during the NBA season.

In a text message response to columnist Steve Simmons, who reported in Wednesday’s Toronto Sun that Colangelo had tried to oust Casey during the season, the Raptors general manager wrote: “Your speculation about me trying to fire DC this year is absolutely false. Your ‘insiders’ are not accurate.”

My guess is the columnist was just desperate for some news/something to write about. It's one thing to publicly criticize the media, but the way BC personally contacted the guy means there was little to no truth involved.

It sounds to me like BULLSHIT reporting. BC never seemed inclined to give up on Casey. Not even the fanbase is fully in agreement that Casey should be fired, and its usually us reacting first!

Maybe. When the team was 4-17 Colangelo went on TV during a game and said it wasn't a talent issue, which pointed the finger squarely at the coaching staff. Then, just to cover his bases, he also took that opportunity to throw his #5 overall pick and future of the franchise under the bus, back over him, and then park on his legs.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Colangelo was politicking all season and blaming various people for his failures. It's been his M.O. for 5 years and it's worked. He's ran through a laundry list of coaches and players only to fail with every single Frankenstein monster he's created, yet, here he is and there is no indication he is going anywhere.

My guess would be that they'll keep BC for one more year, he'll keep Casey, the team will start slow and Casey will be gone mid-season. Then, Colangelo can blame next season's failure on having to bring in a new coach who needs a full training camp. And back on the merry-go-round we go....

Maybe. When the team was 4-17 Colangelo went on TV during a game and said it wasn't a talent issue, which pointed the finger squarely at the coaching staff. Then, just to cover his bases, he also took that opportunity to throw his #5 overall pick and future of the franchise under the bus, back over him, and then park on his legs.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Colangelo was politicking all season and blaming various people for his failures. It's been his M.O. for 5 years and it's worked. He's ran through a laundry list of coaches and players only to fail with every single Frankenstein monster he's created, yet, here he is and there is no indication he is going anywhere.

My guess would be that they'll keep BC for one more year, he'll keep Casey, the team will start slow and Casey will be gone mid-season. Then, Colangelo can blame next season's failure on having to bring in a new coach who needs a full training camp. And back on the merry-go-round we go....

If Raps blow next year there is no question Colangelo is gone. I think he should be gone now but given the state of the roster (ie. contracts) I think he gets one more season.

As for Casey, it will be telling how things play out based on any assistant coach changes. If they bring in an established coach with head coaching experience, I would feel the noose tighten a little if I were Casey.

Maybe. When the team was 4-17 Colangelo went on TV during a game and said it wasn't a talent issue, which pointed the finger squarely at the coaching staff. Then, just to cover his bases, he also took that opportunity to throw his #5 overall pick and future of the franchise under the bus, back over him, and then park on his legs.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Colangelo was politicking all season and blaming various people for his failures. It's been his M.O. for 5 years and it's worked. He's ran through a laundry list of coaches and players only to fail with every single Frankenstein monster he's created, yet, here he is and there is no indication he is going anywhere.

My guess would be that they'll keep BC for one more year, he'll keep Casey, the team will start slow and Casey will be gone mid-season. Then, Colangelo can blame next season's failure on having to bring in a new coach who needs a full training camp. And back on the merry-go-round we go....

1) he finally accepted Bargnani was not the franchise player. Made note that Ed was likely to stay in the starting line up
2) he moved Colangelo's big offseason accusition (Lowry) to the bench to play behind the guy Colangelo had tried to trade away for years (Jose).

For what it's worth, there were stories in December about Casey being on the hotseat. Colangelo denied it whenever he was asked, but the reports cited front office sources who confirmed it. Eric Koreen, in a Twitter conversation this morning with @accfanto (aka dagger, a regular poster on RealGM who I think also used to post here) mentioned that, saying "I can't get into details on that, other than saying what we reported was 100% accurate."

Sounds to me like it probably happened. Those are two of the Raptors media folks who know their stuff and don't usually 'play the company game', IMO.

Definition of Statistics: The science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures.

Maybe. When the team was 4-17 Colangelo went on TV during a game and said it wasn't a talent issue, which pointed the finger squarely at the coaching staff. Then, just to cover his bases, he also took that opportunity to throw his #5 overall pick and future of the franchise under the bus, back over him, and then park on his legs.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Colangelo was politicking all season and blaming various people for his failures. It's been his M.O. for 5 years and it's worked. He's ran through a laundry list of coaches and players only to fail with every single Frankenstein monster he's created, yet, here he is and there is no indication he is going anywhere.

My guess would be that they'll keep BC for one more year, he'll keep Casey, the team will start slow and Casey will be gone mid-season. Then, Colangelo can blame next season's failure on having to bring in a new coach who needs a full training camp. And back on the merry-go-round we go....

I thought this was rather humerous from the Grange article

There was a script. The script has been followed. I’ve tried to live up to every aspect along the way

I feel like this organization, this management team, this coaching staff has acted in a way consistent of that plan

So given what transpired from the end of last season to now, the 'script was'

- take action with the assumption the playoffs are in sight
- verbalize in every way possible, although without explicitly saying, the goal is the playoffs
- get knocked out of any reasonable playoff contention between games 15-20

Who the hell writes these scripts? And why can't I use them at my job?

So given what transpired from the end of last season to now, the 'script was'

- take action with the assumption the playoffs are in sight
- verbalize in every way possible, although without explicitly saying, the goal is the playoffs
- get knocked out of any reasonable playoff contention between games 15-20

Who the hell writes these scripts? And why can't I use them at my job?

You forgot the final act of the script:

-When you fail to meet expectations, claim that you're exactly where you planned on being the entire time

-When you fail to meet expectations, claim that you're exactly where you planned on being the entire time

Just keep lowering the bar. After 7 seasons, we are now at the point where just making the playoffs next year, even if just for one year and in 8th place, would be considered a massive success.

It's funny cause after the 2008 season, I remember fans being hugely disappointed they couldn't get past Orlando into the second round of the playoffs and had seemingly maxed out as an Atlanta type team. Now, 5 years later, no one even talks about winning a playoff series anymore.

Just keep lowering the bar. After 7 seasons, we are now at the point where just making the playoffs next year, even if just for one year and in 8th place, would be considered a massive success.

It's funny cause after the 2008 season, I remember fans being hugely disappointed they couldn't get past Orlando into the second round of the playoffs and had seemingly maxed out as an Atlanta type team. Now, 5 years later, no one even talks about winning a playoff series anymore.

I don't know how often teams go from missing the playoffs to winning a championship in a year. At this point making the playoffs is a big step and you build from there.

I don't know how often teams go from missing the playoffs to winning a championship in a year. At this point making the playoffs is a big step and you build from there.

That's true when you're expecting to take constant steps forward like the Thunder with Durant, the Bulls with Rose, the Clippers with Griffin, etc. It's not true when you're looking at a roster with all of its key players (save one) in their prime, capped out, with no pick, which is staring down 8th place like the holy grail.

My broader point is that the benchmarks are no longer 'make the playoffs; then make the playoffs and win; then, try to get yourself to conference finals and give yourself a chance; then, with luck, win a ring' - the bar is now 'get the 8th seed..... hopefully'. Apparently, people are cool with that. Hence my avatar....

Yeah, I don't buy the drama. Also, have to consider BC is all about image, PR, and using it to keep his job.

If he doesn't fire Casey, it somewhat ties their fates together. As long as Casey is the head coach, and with the team built as is, it's Colangelo's "vision", and it makes it harder to cut him out of the picture. He can sell ownership on letting things play out for one more year, because removing him likely means a lot of instability after a solid 3-4 years of such instability. Next season, results aside, should be a stable year with most of the core roster returning. Only two or three spots need to be filled, and only the 3rd big might be a starter.

If he fires Casey, he's saying his "vision" isn't working already. And then how does he sell his extra year to ownership? Asking them to basically be patient, while he looks for a new coach that hopefully fits the roster in his view? He'd be causing more instability after selling a process that was supposed to build a real "foundation". And he'd be showing an incredible lack of foresight, since he hired Casey with a flawed roster, and that means that moves made after his hiring should've suited Casey's coaching style.

So yeah, firing him shows that he has no clue what he's doing, and it shows it to ownership right now. Selling patience, and another year for both him and Casey, is the only option where ownership can still under any circumstance assume that BC might have any clue what he's doing. And if it works, then the franchise can move into it's most stable era, possibly ever. If it doesn't, it invites a shakeup at a better time, so players don't wonder if things could've worked after a crappy year, and BC has no way to justify his track record in Toronto nor any way to convince them he could do better moving forward.

BC Season Predictions and Results

12-13 - We are going to be a playoff team with an accelerated rebuild - NOPE
11-12 - We are going to be competitive - NOPE, we are in rebuild mode
10-11 - Oh man, we thought we could build around CB
09-10 - We are going to build around Chris Bosh - NOPE